Why Are You Buying a Home?
If you're considering buying a home here are some key questions to ask before you commit
Why are you buying a home? Simon Sinek is the author of a book called Start With Why. It's a business book, but is very applicable to life's decisions. Sinek says that you must know why you're doing something before you start figuring out how to do it. His advice surely applies to buying a home!
According to a survey by the Joint Center of Housing Studies at Harvard University, the top four reasons for buying a home have nothing to do with money. Typical reasons given were
- I want to have control over my living spaces
- I want my children to go to good schools
- We need more space for our growing family
- We want to have influence over our neighborhood
There is no right or wrong reason for you to want to buy a home. It's personal. The decision to buy also tends to be more emotional than financial. Make sure you know what your personal reasons for buying are, and use them to guide your decisions. You can't avoid the financial issues, but that's not the place to start.
Buying a home is not an investment in the real sense of that word. A home should be seen as a hedge against inflation. Therefore, you want to feel secure the home values are likely to grow more than the inflation rate.
Information courtesy of Huntsville Realtor Mike Manosky.